Unbelievable. Just when i thought there won't be any big news before the D23 Expo, Disney announces that the company buy Marvel Entertainment Inc for $4 billion in cash and stock, bringing characters like Iron Man and Spider-Man into the family of Mickey Mouse and WALL-E.
Under the deal, Disney will acquire the ownership of 5,000 Marvel characters. Many of them, including the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, were co-created by comic book legend Stan Lee who - what a coincidence - already have a deal between Disney and his company Pow Entertainment since many months.
This is a major deal for Disney - and Marvel, too - and it will be interesting to see what effect it will have on theme parks. There is plenty of super-heroes at Marvel who would make great attraction concept. What? Universal already have a deal? Remember Islands of Adventure Marvel Superhero Island? That's right, that's why i tell you it's will be interesting to follow the effect of this $4B deal in years to come. Very interesting, really.
In the meantime, here is the official Disney Corporate release!
DISNEY TO ACQUIRE MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT
Worldwide leader in family entertainment agrees to acquire Marvel and its portfolio of over 5,000 characters
Acquisition highlights Disney's strategic focus on quality branded content, technological innovation and international expansion to build long-term shareholder value
Burbank, CA and New York, NY, August 31, 2009 —Building on its strategy of delivering quality branded content to people around the world, The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) has agreed to acquire Marvel Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE:MVL) in a stock and cash transaction, the companies announced today.
Under the terms of the agreement and based on the closing price of Disney on August 28, 2009, Marvel shareholders would receive a total of $30 per share in cash plus approximately 0.745 Disney shares for each Marvel share they own. At closing, the amount of cash and stock will be adjusted if necessary so that the total value of the Disney stock issued as merger consideration based on its trading value at that time is not less than 40% of the total merger consideration.
Based on the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, August 28, the transaction value is $50 per Marvel share or approximately $4 billion.
"This transaction combines Marvel's strong global brand and world-renowned library of characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man, X-Men, Captain America, Fantastic Four and Thor with Disney's creative skills, unparalleled global portfolio of entertainment properties, and a business structure that maximizes the value of creative properties across multiple platforms and territories," said Robert A. Iger, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company. "Ike Perlmutter and his team have done an impressive job of nurturing these properties and have created significant value. We are pleased to bring this talent and these great assets to Disney."
"We believe that adding Marvel to Disney's unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation," Iger said.
"Disney is the perfect home for Marvel's fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses," said Ike Perlmutter, Marvel's Chief Executive Officer. "This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney's tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world."
Under the deal, Disney will acquire ownership of Marvel including its more than 5,000 Marvel characters. Mr. Perlmutter will oversee the Marvel properties, and will work directly with Disney's global lines of business to build and further integrate Marvel's properties.
The Boards of Directors of Disney and Marvel have each approved the transaction, which is subject to clearance under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act, certain non-United States merger control regulations, effectiveness of a registration statement with respect to Disney shares issued in the transaction and other customary closing conditions. The agreement will require the approval of Marvel shareholders. Marvel was advised on the transaction by BofA Merrill Lynch.
Text: copyright Disney
Picture: copyright Marvel
13 comments:
Geez, that is news! I know shareholders probably love this, but I'm not sure how it really fits into the Disney brand... though, I suppose Lucas' creations don't really either, so what do I know...
I have always found myself...well, cringing whenever I ran into the Power Rangers at DHS. I love everything about Disney--home-grown Disney, that is. (OK, they have done an excellent job melding Star Wars into the family, but they did it very carefully, and when I visit for Star Wars weekends I can draw that bright, clear line between the two.)
So I am trying hard to picture Spidey and Co....well, not effing up the perfect Disney Parks vacation.
Perhaps if they were given the 5th gate with villians? Even then, Disney's villians are some of their best characters, much better IMHO than any of the Marvel characters. And for me, therein lies the difference. Characters vs. superheroes. Night and day. Apples and oranges.
Oh, well. Time will tell.
Marvel's characters cater to a much older demography than most Disney characters. I think they could be a a nice addition, but I don't really like over-reliance on characters in theme parks.
Marvel has real superheroes and evil guys, all connected in a big "universe". And much more violence of course. They probably won't fit into the Magic Kingdom very well, but there is no reason they wouldn't fit into one of the two Studio parks or DCA.
It is to be seen what happens with the licensing deals with the Universal parks. I don't have any details when they expire, but losing them will probably cause some headaches over at Universal, since they need to re-brand many of their properties. Additionally, I doubt that Universal would really like to extend the deal with their number one competitor.
Does this mean all Marvel productions will have to be family friendly?
Wow, I hope they don't clean up any of the Marvel violence or cussing that we have all grown to love.
No, Marvel will keep his Marvel spirit and do what they want, Disney said they will not interfere.
The thought that we could see Marvel characters or even attractions at Disney parks makes me sick. One can only hope that Disney execs are not stupid enough to let this happen. You won´t ever see my in a Disney park with a Hulk coaster or a Spiderman stunt show (shudder).
Iger is a genius. Univeral Studios' parks are in decline and in financial straits. Even Harry Potter won't save them long-term. Disney's next move is to simply buy Universal's theme parks and leave the superheroes there; the only changes being adding Disney's excellent Cast Member levels of customer service to those parks. Soon there will be light rail from MCO to the International Drive and WDW areas, so tourists will be virtually all-Disney-all-the-time no matter what parks they choose.
Clever. Universal has never hurt Disney's attendance numbers anyway. This move will only add to it.
I think it wouldn't be bad to introduce the superheroes in Studios Paris, so you get a better difference: Main Park with classic rides and Mickey, Minni, Donald, etc. Studios Park with Pixar-characters like Ratatouille, Nemo, Toy Story and Superheroes like Spiderman and Fantastic 4, which will add this little extra action in the Studios, it will bring the studios more alive, I think. Right now, its hard to make a real good difference between the parks: Stitch live could have been in Discoveryland as well, and Crush Coaster could have been in Fantasyland too.
For the future they could build a Spiderman-scene in the tram tour, or a Fantastic 4-scene!
Yeah, actually I could see a nice blend into the Studios Park, but I hope to god it doesn't go further than that - kind of tired of the cross-pollination (in a variety of media today, not just Disney parks).
Disney just keeps getting bigger!!!
"Iger is a genius" ... lol, I couldn´t think a anybody who seems less like a genius (not that I know the man, but from what he does and from what I have heard, he is a visionless accountant - Marvel´s insipid creatures can only ruin what made Disney great - a black black day for Disney. Walt had more genius in his left eyebrow than all the Presslers or Igers of the world combined...
I am not sure about this deal. I love both Disney and Marvel but I do not know if they go well together. I definitely would not like to see spider man posing for photographs in the Magic Kingdom, or a super hero ride on adventureland, it would spoil the theming and the magic of the place. There could be some nice super hero rides on parks like WDS DHS or DCA though, they could add a lot to those parks like they did to Islands of Adventure, and there could be excellent super hero movies made by touchstone. All in all, the deal could be really good for both marvel and Disney fans, but they must be very careful not to compromise both brands.
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